Should guilty legislator resign now or be allowed to serve?

Right now, that issue is not resolved for a member of the Texas Legislature. According to the AP, “Texas state Rep. Joe Driver, R-Dallas, plans to plead guilty to a felony charge that he used tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars to reimburse himself for travel expenses his campaign had already funded.”

At this time, Driver plans to retire when his term ends in January 2013. He is scheduled to enter his plea on a charge of official abuse of capacity on Nov. 22.

If he does plead guilty, should his immediate resignation be part of the deal?

Or would his guilty plea be enough punishment, allowing him to continue to serve in the Legislature? After all, he might get probation.

Would it harm the reputation of the Texas House if a convicted felon could still serve in it?

Or will voters view this as politics-as-usual?

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